"America's current dependence on energy imports and its rising levels of indebtedness due to the pursuit of wars of choice in Iraq and Afghanistan to secure a position of advantage in the competition for access to the energy resources of the Middle East, the Persian Gulf and Central Asia, reflect the failures of American leaders in the 1970s and 1980s to think through the consequences of the choices made with regards to energy self-sufficiency and diversification of energy sources. Thirty years on, American policymakers have validated George Santayana's pithy observation, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Hopefully, the Deepwater Horizon disaster will help them to focus their minds on both history and the future - given the unsustainable present that has been based upon wishful thinking that Wall Street's financial speculation and wars for energy resources are sound bases for economic success. Sen. Robert Byrd's prediction of a turning point in the recent history of the world has come to pass."